A FREEHOLD two-storey retail podium at The Linq @ Beauty World has been put up for sale through an expression of interest exercise at an indicative guide price of S$136 million.

The indicative guide price for the collective sale of all 53 strata-titled units is about S$4,580 per square foot (psf) of the total strata area, said marketing agent CBRE on Wednesday (Jul 5). 

The Linq is an integrated mixed-use development at a corner freehold land plot along Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Jurong Kechil.

The development – directly connected to Beauty World MRT station – is set for completion by the middle of 2024 and has sold all 120 of its residential units at an average price of S$2,165 psf.  

The retail units up for sale make up the commercial component of the development, with a combined strata area of approximately 29,676 square feet. Some 80 per cent of the retail units are provisioned for restaurant use.

When The Linq was launched in November 2020, developer BBR Holdings looked to control the retail tenant mix by leasing the space first before putting it up on the market, said Clemence Lee, CBRE’s executive director of capital markets in Singapore.

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BBR subsequently received several unsolicited offers for the retail property over the years, and decided to market the asset, said Lee.

CBRE said several new developments in the Beauty World area could help to rejuvenate the precinct. These include the completion of The Reserve Residences and Bukit V by 2027, a new Bukit Timah integrated community building, and the future Bukit Timah Integrated Transport Hub.

The Reserve Residences sold 520 out of 732 units at an average price of S$2,460 psf over its launch weekend in May.

At The Linq, “with 53 retail units within the retail podium, the new owner could look to strata sales as an exit strategy.

With individual units ranging from 17 to 101 square metres, each unit will have a palatable quantum that will appeal to individual investors and owner-occupiers”, said Lee. 

The sale of the retail assets comes as the strata commercial market is stirring with activity.

Several portfolios have been put on the market with interest picking up from investors as transactions in commercial property are not liable for Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD). ABSD rates were raised at the end of April in a move aimed at curbing demand for private residential property.

In June, Lendlease Global Commercial Reit took over a 10 per cent share of Parkway Parade Partnership (PPP) for S$90.5 million, based on a S$1.38 billion agreed market value of the 291 strata lots PPP owns in retail and office development Parkway Parade.

In May, property group Top Global put two retail strata units on the ground floor of 15 Scotts Road up for sale at S$38.8 million.

At Peninsula Plaza, a 999-year leasehold strata retail shop went on the market in March at a guide price of S$6.09 million. 

The expression of interest exercise for the properties at The Linq closes on Aug 16.